A welcome sign at Berkshire Hathaway's annual meeting featuring Warren Buffett (left) and Greg Abel. Theron Mohamed/Business Insider Berkshire Hathaway posted its first quarterly earnings without Warren Buffett in charge on Saturday. New CEO Greg Abel followed Buffett's lead by selling stocks and building a record cash pile. Abel will take questions from Berkshire shareholders on Saturday at his first annual meeting as CEO. Greg Abel 's tenure as Berkshire Hathaway's CEO is off to a robust start. Abel, who succeeded Warren Buffett at the start of this year, oversaw a 17% jump in operating earnings to $11.3 billion in the three months to March 31, Berkshire's first quarter earnings report revealed on Saturday. Berkshire posted strong growth in insurance-underwriting profits, and higher earnings across its BNSF Railway, Berkshire Hathaway Energy, and manufacturing, service, and retailing units. However, its earnings were flattered by a foreign-exchange gain.…